Grain-drier



0. W. RANDOLPH.

GRAIN DRIER.

APPLICATION FILEI) FEB- 23 1919.

1,346,335w v Patented July 13,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

, 0. w; RANDOLPH.

GRAIN DRIER. v APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. l9I9- I 1,34 ,335, PatentedJuly 13,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

OLIVER w. RANDOLPH, or 'roLnno, onto.

GRAIN-DRIER.

rates-a5.

Specification of Lett rs Patent.

Patented July 13, 1920 Application filed February 3,1919. Serial No. 27L736.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER W. RANDOLPH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Driers; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof refer ence marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to character illustrated in etters Patent of theUnited States issued to me September 5, 1916, Number 1,196,979,September 4, 1917, Number 1,239,216, and August 27, 1918, Number1,276,812, and is designed to furnish a structure, preferably of sheetmetal,

composed of grain-columns and air-ducts,

vertically disposed and arranged,alternately,

' side by side. The grain tobe dried is fed by gravity down through thegrain-col- I umns while air is forced into the air-ducts and thence outthrough the descending grain, thus, in its course to the open air,absorbing the moisture from the grain. The object of my invention, moreparticularly, is to construct the columns and ducts referred to ofuniform interchangeable units, the walls of which provide the necessarypartitions and which afford not only the proper air-openings leadinginto and from the grain-columns, but which also provide means foragitating and retarding the rain during its course through the drier toincrease and prolong its exposure to the air-currents. My invention alsorelates to certain details of construction hereinafter described andpointed out in the claims.

To the ends indicated, my invention consists of the devices,construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawin 's, in whichigure 1, is anoutline end-elevation'of a grain drier constructed according to theeneral plan of my said several patents and pable of embodying thepresent improvements; Fig. 2, a front-elevation of the upper part of agrain drier constructed according to my invention; Fig. 3, across-sectional elevation of a portion of the lower part of the same;Fig. 4, an enlarged view of the same,

rain driers of the 4 heated b in Fig. 6,

'of a closure for the end of one of the horizontal compartments of thegrain-column hereinafter referred to; Fig. 8, a perspective View of oneend of one ofthe deflectorbars hereinafter referred to, and Fig. 9, aperspective view of a closure-piece for certain openings hereinafterreferred to.

Like letters and numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawin s.

The body of my machine, is rectangular in ggneral outline, having at topa contamer from which grain is discharged into the several grain-columnshereinafter described, and having at bottom rain discharge outlets C anda conveyer for conveying the dried grain to a suitable receptacle. E isa hood the mouth of which covers and embraces the inlets of the severalair-ducts hereinafter referred to, and which is supplied with air by ablower F. The air supplied by the blower through the hood is means of asuitable heater, not shown. he size and capacity of my grain drier maybe varied as may be required, depending upon the length and number. ofthe superposed units, now to be described.

10 is a metal sheet of such length as to extend between the front andback walls of the machine. It is bent alon its longitudinal center intoinverted "V-s ape form, as at 11. It is also bent on longitudinal lines12 so that the two sides of the sheet are substantially parallel. Themargins of the sheet are also bent to flare outwardly and. downwardly toform flanges 13. One end of each of these inverted trough-like devicesis closed by means of a piece of sheet metal 14 consisting of ahlank,-the outline of which Wlll be readily understood withoutillustrat1on, which has been bent into form,

and which fits into theopen end of the piece 10. The pieces 10 and 14are correspondingly pierced, as at 15, for bolts or rivets. The pieces10, bent and closed at as illustrated one end, as above descrlbed, arearranged in having its open end exposed to-the blast of the fan F. Thepieces 10, in the horizontal I the machine to the top.

18. (See Fig.

In their vertical rows the pieces '10 have their flaring flanges 13spaced above the sloping top of the subjacent corres onding member, asplainly indicated in igs. 3 and 4.

The vertical rows of the members 10 are spaced apart horizontally andare secured in fixed vertical and horizontal relation bymeans of thedevices now to be described. 16 is a rectangular piece of sheet metal,blanked and bent to box-like form, as shown in Fig. 7, and pierced forbolts or rivets to register "with corresponding holes in the parts 10and 14. On the ends of the flanges 13 are formed tongues 17 which whenthe parts 10 and 16 are brought into proper relation, will pro'ectthrough the oblique slots The tongues 17 are bent backwardly against*and into engagement with the outer wall of the piece 16. The adjoiningedges of the parts 10, 14 and 16 are secured together by suitable boltsand rivets. Between the apex of the open ends.

of the pieces 10 and the bottom edge of the piece 10, next above, thereis a space which is filled by a sheet metal piece 19. (See Fig. 9.)

t will now be seen that between the adjacent vertical rows of the pieces10 are vertical spaces 20 into which project, at regular intervals, thedownwardly inclined flanges 13, the walls of the passages 20 beingformed by the adjacent vertical walls of theparts 10. The passages 20are connected at their top with the grain supply B and at their bottomwith the receptacles and conveyers C--D and-constitute the graincolumnsof the machine. Extending lengthwise thro u h, each of the passages 20,as indicated in igs. 2, 3 and 4, is a metal strip 21 bent longitudinallyinto inverted V-shape,

and which projects, at itsends, through correspondingly shaped slots 22in the pieces 16. The piece 21 is secured against longitudinal movementby means of pins 23.

The outer walls of the outside vertical rows of the members 10 areconnected with the members 10, as indicated at 24,- seen to\ the left'inFig. 4:. 1

The operation of my device is as follows: The grain to be dried beingadmitted into the top of the passages 20, flows downwardly and is caughtand retarded by the successive opposed converging pairs of flanges 13.Afterpassing a air of flanges the grain strikes the deflecting bars 21and is spread outwardly and is again caught by the flanges and is againseparated by the deflecting bars, and so on throughout its course to theoutumns and flows upwardly and downwardly under the neighboring pairs offlanges 13 and thence through the outlet ducts to their open ends at thefront of the machine and to the open air.

Under some conditions of operation I find it useful to lace in theair-.ductssbaflieplates 25 (see ig. 4) which deflect laterally a portionof the air-currents causing a more uniform distribution of the air.

The usual openings and slides ,or shutters for their control areprovided, but need not be here described.

Having described my invention, what' I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- 1. In a grain drier, a series of air-ducts arrangedin vertical and horizontal rows, the vertical rows being spaced apart toform therebetween grain-columns, said ducts consisting respectively ofelongated members having parallel side-walls which converge to form atop, and having at bottom downwardly flaring flanges, said flanges andthe subjacent converging tops being "spaced apart to form air passagesbetween said sisting respectively of elongated members I having parallelside-walls which converge to form a top, and having at bottom downwardlyflaring flanges, said flanges and the subjacent converging tops beingspaced .apart to form air passages between said ducts and saidgrain-columns, combined with a blower arranged to drive air into saidairducts, and closures for the opposite ends of the alternate horizontalrows of air-ducts.

3. In a grain drier, a series of air-ducts arranged in vertical rows andin horizontal rows, the vertical rows being spaced apart to formgrain-columns therebetween, said ducts consisting respectively of anelongated sheet metal member bent to form a top and two downwardlyprojecting parallel side-walls which at bottom have downwardly andoutwardly flaring flanges, said flanges and the tops of the subjacentducts being spaced apart to form at opposite sides of the graincolumnopposed air-passages connecting the air-ducts and the grain-columns, andbars extending longitudinally through said graincolumns substantiallymidway between said opposed air-passages.

4:. In a grain drier, a grain-column, at opposite sides of saidgrain-column a plurality of air-ducts having outlets arranged to deliverair into said grain-column, and a plurality of air-ducts having inletsarranged to receive air from said grain-column, said delivering andreceiving ducts being disposed in alternation one above the other, saidgrain-column being constricted at said outlets and said inlets to retardthe flow of grain at said points, combined with means for delivering airto the air-duct first mentioned, and means for delivering grain to thegrain-column.

5. In a device of the described character, a grain-column, at oppositesides of said grain-column corresponding series of alternatingair-receiving and air-delivering airducts arranged in vertical columnsone above the other, the corresponding air-ducts being disposed inhorizontal alinement, and having at their under sides air-passages incommunication with the grain-column, and means for retarding the flow ofgrain through the grain-column during its passage between saidair-passages.

6. In a device of the described character, a series of air-ductsarranged one above the other, said ducts consisting respectively of anelongated strip bent along its longitudinal center and along and near toits margins to form depending flanged parallel side walls and a top withsloping sides, the alternating ends of said ducts being closed.

ln testimony whereof 1 afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

V @LlVER W. RANDQLPH.

Witnesses W. A. Dr. Fonns'r, Fonnnsr Jnrrnins.

